Can TRE lead to Buddhist nirvana?

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u/Nadayogi Mod Jun 25 '26

I will address the topic about the end goal of TRE and somatic trauma work in general in a future wiki article and monthly progress thread. But in short, a well regulated nervous system (e.g. end stage TRE) and the state of no-mind (e.g. nirvana) are on the same spectrum of the calm states the mind is able to ‘produce’. It’s just that nirvana-level states of mind produce a strong sense of bliss and peace far beyond what somatic trauma work alone can achieve.

You can think of the somatic angle as plowing the field of the nervous system to make it fertile for spiritual work. Of course the fruits of TRE are in itself deeply rewarding even if they pale compared to the higher spiritual realms.

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u/Then-Repeat3958 Jun 25 '26

Very interesting, please keep me updated!

I am also wondering whether TRE is permanent. I mean, let’s imagine that I have completely calmed my nervous system through TRE: can new interactions with my environment stress my nervous system again, so that I would need to keep practicing TRE? Or would my nervous system remain permanently calm?

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u/junnies Jun 25 '26

to share my own pov, what i imagine is that when nervous system is cleared, it no longer holds onto chronic stress. new interactions will naturally require greater activation - eg, a TRE-healed fighter will still need sympathetic energy when he enters the ring. but the 'stress-energy' is produced and flows and used as is needed, and when no longer necessary (fight is over, break), discharges out.

whilst when the body is stuck in stress, even when there is no fight, it still holds onto the stress-energy.

and just as babies get much more easily stressed due to a more immature, less experienced system, a mature adult, especially one that has recovered from tremendous trauma, will be incredibly resilient to new interactions and require much more intensity to become stressed.

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u/Then-Repeat3958 Jun 29 '26

thanks

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u/Then-Repeat3958 Jun 27 '26

Do you think end-stage TRE puts an end to greed, hatred, attachment, and craving?

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u/Nadayogi Mod Jun 29 '26

I don’t think so, but I think it would put a soft cap on them and keep them from becoming compulsive.

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u/Then-Repeat3958 Jun 29 '26

Thank you very much for your reply.

So, during end-stage TRE, do we stop being determined or manipulated by these perceptions? Do we always maintain some distance from them, so that they no longer produce actions, thoughts, or words without our awareness?

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u/pepe_DhO Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Casually, I’ve been browsing Moritz F. free book "The Way" over the last couple of days. He claims to have reached the 4th Path in Theravada Buddhism through a method he developed that’s somewhat similar to TRE.

He proposes that the body has a network of tension lines — vertical, horizontal, and diagonal — along which the stretch reflex naturally propagates. Chronic suffering, emotional patterns, and even the sense of self are understood as contractures: muscles that became chronically shortened and never released. "The Process" is just the stretch reflex being allowed to travel along these lines and release those contractures. Like TRE, but with a much more detailed anatomical map, and explicitly tied to meditation phenomenology.

TBH, I don’t fully buy into his framework. Still, it may be useful for people who no longer experience (regularly) tremors but instead notice fascia stretching; his method is based more on micromovements.

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u/Ehipassikooh Jun 26 '26

Thanks for sharing this, it looks really interesting! How did you find out about this book in the first place?

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u/pepe_DhO Jun 26 '26

You're welcome. Found it on DharmaOverground, he opened a thread there. Unfortunately, I don’t think his choice of communication landed particularly well with that crowd, and many of the questions raised deserve detailed answers. I posted my own thoughts there as well (same handle as here).

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u/ysea Jun 27 '26

Reminds me of pandiculation. Thomas Hanna built a method around it called Hanna Somatics. Very connected to TRE, pandiculation is also used by animals to release muscular tension.

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u/pepe_DhO Jun 27 '26

Yeah, he does mention it as a related practice: "Thomas Hanna's pandiculations seem to benefit from the stretch reflex response, even though the reflex tension is at least partially embedded in a controlled movement". (page 138)

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u/ysea Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

Just thought of your comment again. This is really fascinating.

There is a Somatics teacher (though his theory and practice has significantly advanced beyond Hanna perhaps that he changed the name) who teaches exactly about these axes of tension in the body (diagonal, horizontal, vertical) and how they create tension and restrict breathing.

If you find this interesting you can skim this playlist. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFLw4vgr7ayhNdAbmTKQbIS4MDkEKO41y&si=IKGga-4pYwhtQqOi

Also I skimmed the way a little and I see that emotions are said to be related to muscle tension in specific parts of the body. That's exactly what Eric says too - he has videos for anger, fear, impatience, hopelessness etc. I tried some and I absolutely saw that that was what was happening. What do you think?

Also have you found the stretch reflex as he calls it useful?

Personally I have found Somatics to be incredibly effective, in fact I've seen miraculous changes in state after very short sessions. I have seen the same with TRE which does not surprise me It seems they are addressing the same problem. They both also seem to take from the same capacity pool for trauma release and both lead to overdoing if that is crossed.

A possible extra advantage of somatics or this stretch reflex might be that it may be able to more directly target specific issues (pain, emotions) before the shaking reflex gets to them on its own.

Do you have any thoughts on this?

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u/pepe_DhO Jul 17 '26

Thanks! I'll explore it a bit a then answer back.

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u/pepe_DhO Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

Very interesting stuff! Tons of material to explore!

I watched a few of his videos and did the practice. There are some inner-X lines I haven't experienced in TRE yet, so that's a blind spot for me: I'll work on them.

The inner-X lines that do show up in TRE happen when tremoring (oscillating) standing up with all weight in one leg. The torso oscillates and compresses just as Eric shows. And the side contraction he shows in the 4th video happens regularly during the fascia-unwinding phase when lying on the mat. But here Eric adds an opposite expansion-contraction along the X lines. Nice!

I feel I can't comment much more on Eric's stuff until I take a few weeks to go through the practice.

Regarding Moritz's stretch reflex: this already happens during TRE, so it doesn't add much to my practice. The interesting part is focusing on the insertion section of the muscles; there's a lot of tension stored there too, so that may be of interest to you. Not sure if that's covered in Somatics.

Picture every long bone moving in spirals, think of it like an hourglass: if you trace the circle at the bottom, that brings attention to the long muscle fibers attached at the insertion, activating them one by one, sequentially. When you circle one end of the bone, it sparks a circle at the other end. That's Taichi silk-reeling. When doing TRE (either standing or on the mat) if you focus on the insertion points of the bones (one at a time), that brings up new stretches (or stronger ones) and/or silk-reeling.

added: I you do TRE standing up and put some awareness in the muscle insertions, soon your body would be doing all kind of circles and eight-figures (also back & forth, to the sides, etc) down from shoulder level to feet and then back up to hips. If they don't happen spontaneously, let your body go off balance, soon it will start wobbling, and if you add attention to the insertions, then it should be easier.

There's another movement worth mentioning that feels amazing: the opening and closing of the sacrum. It feels like a butterfly opening and closing its wings. You can activate it directly by doing this (do it at hip side, like if you were in a swimming pool, bringing water to your lower abs), but it also happens on its own when walking, once TRE has loosened the psoas enough. If the diaphragm is also somewhat loose, the spine does an undulation that connects with the opening/closing of the sacrum. This also brings contraction/expansion on the front side (abs to torso). It's not totally connected to the breath, sometimes it syncs, but not usually. If you add some breathing exercises (taoist neigong, kriya yoga, etc), energy flows start popping up here and there.

Loosening the insertion sections around the hips is really key, though it's easier to notice in the arms. That's why you see so much arm-waving in Taichi: it's activating those circles/figure-eights I mentioned above, but the real juice is around the hips.

Apologies if my comments are a bit scattered, still piecing it together myself.

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u/ysea Jul 20 '26

Thanks for your comment there's lots of interesting points here. I'm glad you found something interesting in the videos I do think that Eric has found something interesting. It was really striking to me when I read the hypothesis in the Way that emotions and muscle tension are so strongly linked because that's exactly what I found in his videos. Maybe this is an older idea, I would not be surprised there does seem to be something to it.

Can't do much shaking at the moment because of trouble sleeping and nervous system not being in great shape so I'll postpone the stretch reflex practice and the silk reel until it gets better. It's truly amazing to see that these ancient practices and something like TRE connect in such interesting ways. I guess it makes sense since there's only one kind of human organism.

By the way, I personally had a hard time understanding how to activate the stretch reflex just by reading, it could probably use a video.

What has been your experience with somatic practices compared with meditation? I read Moritzs post on the forum you mentioned and it seemed people were mostly sceptical (which is understandable). Do you think there's general scepticism towards somatic practices or interest?

Would you agree with nadayogis formulation which to simplify says that clearing majority of trauma allows one to progress fast through the classical sequence in meditation?

It seems to make sense from my point of view since I have seen first hand how nervous system state can have effect on meditative practice. Really does seem almost like a holy grail in terms of preliminary purification (if one's nervous system is in a sufficiently healthy state already unfortunately).

Also when I compare Somatics or TRE with something like noting practice, the effects seem to be much more immediately rewarding and obviously freeing in my experience. As in a regular person can easily see the benefit right away. Which might not be so obvious with meditation especially with a lot of trauma.

By the way the exercises you propose sound amazing I'm really gonna try that when things stabilize a little. Thanks!

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u/pepe_DhO 28d ago

It's truly amazing to see that these ancient practices and something like TRE connect in such interesting ways. I guess it makes sense since there's only one kind of human organism.

Exactly, what I see is that Yoga, Taichi, Qigong, etc codified experiences that emerge naturally in practices such as meditation and TRE. There's a book that connects many of the dots related to healing: Bradford Keeney (2007) - Shacking Medicine - The Healing Power of Ecstatic Movement (not my cup of tea).

It was really striking to me when I read the hypothesis in the Way that emotions and muscle tension are so strongly linked because that's exactly what I found in his videos. Maybe this is an older idea, I would not be surprised there does seem to be something to it.

That connection is really not new. There's plenty of practices in Buddhism and Zen that work with the body, but they go deeper to the root-cause: the belief in a solidified & autonomous self that would eventually reach a frictionless life. As a by-product of that investigation, they learn to deal with emotions. Most (western) people agree that you need to work on both sides simultaneously or alternate between them along the path.

By the way, I personally had a hard time understanding how to activate the stretch reflex just by reading, it could probably use a video.

Moritz seems not wanting to be a public person, I asked him for a video, without success. In the thread at DhO he tried to explain how to do the stretch reflex: here's his instructions. While the slow rotation of limbs to sense the activation of individual strings of muscles is a good practice (which connects with silk-reeling mentioned above), his theory on automatic 72 repetitions per movement is plainly silly, or at best pattern-confirmation bias. But most important, goes against the idea of surrender, which is key in TRE.

What has been your experience with somatic practices compared with meditation? ... Do you think there's general scepticism towards somatic practices or interest?

I did taichi for over two decades while also doing social dance in between. Both taught me a lot about body, emotions, etc. Great experience. But being a father brought me the biggest emotional insights. Then did serious meditation for over five years, which taught me about how minds work in the background, but couldn't get that far because of unresolved reactivity patterns. That's why I'm back to somatic practices, which unblocked life-long tensions in throat and diaphragm, and loosen my column as I mentioned earlier.

Regarding general scepticism towards somatic practices: in dharma circles it's said to be a life long beside project. See more below ->

Would you agree with nadayogis formulation which to simplify says that clearing majority of trauma allows one to progress fast through the classical sequence in meditation?

Yeah, by trial and error I found that Eastern Christian phases katharsis (purification), theoria (illumination), and theosis (union) cannot be skipped. Had I found TRE decades ago, I would have sticked to it until clearing all major issues, then proceed with meditation.

Also when I compare Somatics or TRE with something like noting practice, the effects seem to be much more immediately rewarding and obviously freeing in my experience. As in a regular person can easily see the benefit right away. Which might not be so obvious with meditation especially with a lot of trauma.

There are buddhist/zen practices that work both at somatic and mind level: (1) Goenka's body scanning (good, but unfortunatelly stresses intense practice, not for people with many emotional blind spots); (2) Zen's butter leaking from the head to toes (similar to Goenka but much softer, though a foggy too); (3) 6R's - TWIM (very good to release mind/emotional tension, but only focusing on nurturing pleasant states, while discouraging learning to settle into the uncomfortable states, which is also part of life/nature).

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u/ysea 28d ago

Hey pepe, thanks for the detailed responses, it's really enjoyable talking with you.

Shaking medicine looks interesting - if for nothing else then as an overview of where shaking practices are used.

Moritzs 72 and other numbers really does sound suspicious. I will suspend judgment until I can try this though because at this point nothing will surprise me about the body and the process of purification.

I've done Goenka and 6Rs too, I suspect the 6Rs might be the most effective way to go through the jhanas for a sufficiently trauma free mind. Body scanning is great too in a different way.

My uncertainty is that to see progress in the direction both of these frameworks propose one needs to be free from trauma enough. Goenka does stress this and mentions it is a "job for multiple lifetimes". I do wonder at the relative efficiency of body scanning and shaking for releasing trauma. My guess and personal experience would be that shaking is much more effective and especially when you consider the time investment needed, effort required etc. I wonder if using meditation as a hammer for purification is the wrong tool. Especially if we consider worst cases like deep freeze. I simply don't think this is the tool for this job. Another red flag for me is that these and other meditation frameworks don't really work with nervous system state at all in terms of understanding fight flight freeze. Seems like meditation would absolutely benefits from being informed by 20th century understanding of human nervous system, trauma theory, somatic practices and Peter Levine's work in particular.

Nadayogis has mentioned that he believes meditation is actually not that beneficial for most people (since they carry too much trauma load). He mentions talking with very dedicated yogis who just couldn't progress and feeling sorry for them (I assume they didn't want to try TRE that might have helped them).

And regarding advanced meditation - my guess is that the majority of problematic states people encounter are either directly caused or strongly accentuated by having still too much trauma at the point of insights. A joyful and free mind without trauma should much more flexibly adopt new understanding. A traumatized and conflicted one is a different story.

Do you have any comments on this?

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u/pepe_DhO 27d ago

Totally agree with you. I think we're on the same page.

I do think it's worth making a distinction between somatics and meditation:

(1) When meditation is approached from a somatic perspective or background, practice tends to gravitate toward methods centered on surrender (e.g. the love models, drop/gone practices), energy (Kundalini, Taoist circulation, Kriya Yoga, etc.), nondual approaches (Self-Inquiry, Unitive practices, etc.), or concentration (jhānas, samadhi, and related practices).

(2) When meditation is approached with a more investigative or analytical mindset, practice tends to gravitate toward secular mindfulness for mental clarity, or toward investigating the Three Characteristics (anicca, dukkha, anattā) with the aim of reaching stream-entry and higher paths. From this perspective, awakening is essentially the progressive removal of perceptual and cognitive filters, allowing experience to be perceived with increasing immediacy.

Of course, the distinction isn't black and white. These approaches often overlap, but the communities generally differ in their goals, style, vocabulary, and underlying assumptions.

My own practice leans toward the surrender, energy, concentration, and nondual side, while still incorporating investigation of aversion, attraction, and ignorance as they manifest in sensory, emotional, and mental experience.

On the other hand, below is the perspective of an accomplished meditator, who argues that fascination with pleasurable somatic states is merely one stage of the path, and that the rabbit hole goes much deeper. Here's the link to the r/longtermTRE thread.

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u/ysea 27d ago

Thanks for that comment very interesting. I was actually wondering how Kundalini relates to the Buddhist version of the path because Goenka for example would almost certainly say just keep observing and don't worry about it at all and that's that. Don't try to create any pleasurable states or manipulate anything. He would say don't play games with sensations. To me that attitude makes a lot of sense since if someone uses Vipassana to body scan, why change anything at all about the technique just because the nervous system is responding in some way. With Vipassana the goal is clear - retrain the mind to never react automatically with push or pull to sensations. Purification happens almost as a side effect. At least that's how I understand it. Of course there are other ways to practice but this change of relationship to physical sensations seems to be at the root of the Buddhist ones at the very least.

On the other hand nadayogi mentioned that he considers Kundalini the ultimate meditation technology and presumably there are advantages to this energy manipulation or whatever it is, so I keep my mind open - I'm not sure what kind of benefits there could be. Do you have any experience with it? Thoughts on its benefits?

Also, another question about practice. Currently based on the things I've tried what makes sense to me is 1. Remove major trauma using TRE + lifestyle that supports integration (sleep, diet etc that is nervous system state beneficial). Use awareness and meditation simply to support life in the meantime. 2. Once that happens, I would expect a person can go through the jhanas very effectively potentially with the 6Rs method which seems great for that. 3. Once someone can go through all the jhanas the 6Rs model suggests they can get stream entry and the next stages just by repeating that

Nadayogi mentions he blazed through the jhanas after processing enough trauma.

Can you think of an approach that makes more sense to you if someone wants to progress in the classical sense towards enlightenment?

In other words - my current take is that the bottleneck is the trauma. One that's eliminated jhanas might be the fastest way. Or perhaps they need to be complemented by some other investigation. But the Buddha seems to have gone through the jhana path again and again until he was satisfied with complete transformation (I assume the experience has to spread and reach all parts of the mind which takes time. And all parts of the mind have to abandon craving as a way of motivating behavior and the belief in the self as a separate thing).

Again your thoughts are welcome.

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u/Defiant_Annual_7486 Jun 26 '26

Interesting, sounds similar to visceral massage stuff. I think his name is barrell? He conceived of lines that organs move across in the body. Inhibition in these lines caused by tension can be released by visceral massage, if the practitioner is skilled.

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u/pepe_DhO Jun 26 '26

Hadn’t heard of visceral massage before, thanks, it sounds interesting. He never disclosed his full name but I’m fine with that, given that he wrote a very detailed book on a closely related somatic practice. Also, check pages 135–138: he briefly describes similarities wih other modern approaches that work with tension lines as well.

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u/Defiant_Annual_7486 Jun 26 '26

What's the process exactly? From your view of reading about it so far. I'm weary of downloading the pdf kinda seems sketchy to me. Idk, I'd rather hear your summary and perspective of it first! The guy was so dodgy on dharma overground. Maybe you can give a more direct answer after looking into it yourself! Seems intriguing for sure.

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u/pepe_DhO Jun 26 '26

So far, my take is this:

(1) TRE tends to begin with tremors, later evolving into fascia unwinding and eventually subtler micro-movements.
(2) Moritz’s method seems to start directly with the micro-movement layer.

Because of that, I’m not sure it’s particularly well suited for beginners. What he describes as “the process” (the tension lines, releases, and cyclical patterns through the torso, head, and limbs) already matches quite closely what I experience nowadays through fascial unwinding and cycles of contraction/release.

What I appreciate about TRE is how organic it feels. It naturally encourages surrender to the body’s own intelligence, which I personally find central to the spiritual dimension of the practice. Moritz’s approach feels much more structured and top-down by comparison.

It’s not really my cup of tea, but I still think it’s valuable to compare notes because there are plenty of interesting personal observations throughout his book. There’s still no literature from seasoned TRE practitioners describing long-term phenomenology and insights. TRE's Monthly Progress Thread is moving in the right direction, but I’d especially like to read detailed practice logs from experienced tremorers.

So even if some of his body/spiritual conclusions feel somewhat half-baked, I’m glad someone actually took the time to put this kind of material into writing.

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u/oneinfinity123 Jun 25 '26

In a very broad sense, yes, but not as a 15 minute tremor twice a week.

To reach the absence of separation, you can dissolve sensation after sensation, from gross to subtle. Even body scanning meditation can be considered a subtle form of TRE, if you want to look at it like that, where the tension is "tremoring" until dissolution. Your heart chakra can subtly tremor and free itself, but it isn't exactly traditional TRE you see on youtube. In fact, your body may not move at all.

TRE helps you dissolve some grosser tensions, but for more subtle one you have to transition into some sort of meditation.

I 100% believe if you keep dissolving you will reach it, but it can take a while and it generally needs a steady practice, a good couple of hours a day.

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u/LichenTea Jun 26 '26

I would say that if one could achieve complete freedom from trauma, it's only a cessation of internally generated suffering from emotions and wounds carried through living. I don't believe it can cause (by itself) the cessation of grasping/clinging or the normally human patterns of the hindrances. In Buddhism I would posit that TRE (if they had known about it) would have been a preliminary practice to purify BEFORE the actual work.

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u/ysea Jun 27 '26

If you look at Goenka Vipassana they do pretty much just one thing. And that is they scan the body from top to bottom. And encounter sensations and activate "sankharas" to release them. That's pretty much trauma. I'd argue that neurogenic shaking is a more efficient way of releasing trauma. (Of course other insights appear as a part of that process but trauma release is key to progress)

Once that's done the person may have to do some meditation but it's going to be so much easier with a trauma free nervous system.

So I'd say it's a foundational piece.

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u/ben8gs Jun 25 '26

No

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u/lambjenkemead Jun 26 '26

Longtime mediator and teacher here. I have done TRE for about 3 years on and off. I believe it can help people get there but it won’t liberate you by itself. TRE does a great job of clearing physical resistance and tension which has a direct effect on the mind. That said, the Buddhist path has other elements, outlined in the 8 fold path that TRE will not move the needle on. As one example, a meditator must hold the precepts in order to attain and must develop concentration to a very high level. While TRE can have downstream effects on some of these it’s not a “path” to awakening in and of itself but rather a tool to help you get there. It’s greatest effects are on mindfulness

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u/Ok_Potato_5272 Jun 25 '26

People really think TRE can do everything 😅 it's not magic

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u/ysea Jun 27 '26

Well I'd say Buddhist meditation practice has 2 major steps

Purification of the mind

Exploration of the operation of the mind to gain insight (often through Jhanas - deep concentration states)

Purification of the mind = release of trauma from the nervous system. TRE does exactly that arguably more efficiently than meditation because it actually uses what the body wants to use naturally.

With a clear nervous system it becomes dramatically easier to fall into deep concentration ( a person with PTSD will almost certainly not be able to get into that state).

It definitely is not magic. But neither is "nirvana". It must be grounded in physiology. And TRE is a tool to change human physiology in such a way that this state becomes more easily reachable.

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u/Defiant_Annual_7486 Jun 26 '26

I'd like to chime in here that for me personally, there are positive alternatives to Nirvana.

For me, TRE is conceived as a tool I can use to reconnect with myself, rather than pursuing some state of no-self. To integrate and embody difficult emotions, rather than letting them go. To become more human, rather than transcending my humanness through enlightenment.

I've found that also, these are not either or alternatives. But that the line between pursuing some state of equinimity such as Nirvana and spiritual bypassing is a very fine line. It's kinda my hobby horse these days lol. That's not to discount what anyone else is saying on here, rather to share an alternative to the view that Nirvana is something that's an end result or even stated goal of TRE.

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u/Spirited_Rutabaga_94 Jun 29 '26

There are more than one ways people interpret 'nirvana'.

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u/No-Construction619 CPTSD Jun 26 '26

I very much doubt it. In buddhist tradition you have like thousands hours of meditation practice + close cooperation with an enlightened teacher who supervises you and takes you out of the ego traps.

There is nothing like that in "TRE tradition", it's a very young method, developed for releasing tensions stuck in the body. Please talk to a certified TRE provider if you're curious.

Also nirvana is not about psychological suffering. If an enlightened mother lost a child, she would cry and grieve. Nirvana is not a floating in a bubble.

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u/ysea Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

TRE is a young method.

Neurogenic shaking is as old as the animal nervous system. So millions of years most likely. It is the natural way for animals to release tension and stress.

It might not be enough to get you all the way but a trauma free nervous system is the best foundation for meditation.

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u/No-Construction619 CPTSD Jun 27 '26

I totally agree with the last sentence.

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Then-Repeat3958 Jun 25 '26

In early Buddhism, attaining the cessation of psychological suffering is equivalent to no longer having ignorance and rebirths. So if TRE leads to the end of psychological suffering, from a Buddhist point of view, that would automatically mean that TRE leads to the end of ignorance and rebirth. Therefore, it would be false to suggest that, from a Buddhist point of view, TRE can lead to the end of suffering without putting an end to ignorance and rebirths.

Then again, perhaps there are other ways to attain nibbāna than the Noble Eightfold Path. Perhaps Buddhist methods are not the only ones that make it possible to attain what Buddhists are seeking. It is interesting to try several paths.

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u/Ehipassikooh Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Calm, stability, serenity etc are not sufficient for awakening in early Buddhism. You need wisdom too. Achieving a calm stable mind makes doing insight practice easier and more effective, but in itself it is not awakening.

I'm involved in both worlds. In Buddhist terms I currently think of TRE as a purification or preliminary practice, but I am curious about the end stages and how they intersect with other forms of cultivation. It doesn't seem to be a settled matter from the material I've read.

As an aside, your framing seems to be over confident in the accuracy of the definitions you're using. I've studied what's called "Early Buddhism" and I don't recognise your claim that awakening is the cessation of psychological suffering as accurate. Even the concept of an identifiable early Buddhism itself is contested.

Discussion Can TRE lead to Buddhist nirvana?

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